THE lead Conservative candidate in the European election has refused to apologise for implying Chinese people in Scotland like eating cats.
Ian Duncan, 41, said he had not intended to cause offence with the comment, made on Facebook, saying he was simply talking about cats.
Below a picture of a Chinese woman apparently walking her cat though a shopping centre in Aberdeen, Duncan wrote: "Her lunch, presumably."
The SNP last night called on Duncan to apologise.
A first-time European election candidate, Duncan - the personal choice of Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson - is hoping to succeed Scotland's outgoing Tory MEP Struan Stevenson, who retires this summer after 15 years in Brussels.
Asked by the Sunday Herald about the February comment, Duncan, who has a PhD in paleontology, said: "I was teasing an old friend there."
Asked if it was offensive, he said: "No. It was very much a private matter and it was about a cat and that's that … Certainly no offence was intended, none whatever."
An SNP spokesman said: "Ian Duncan may not think there is anything wrong with these remarks, but plenty of people would. He should reflect on the understandable offence he will have caused to many and apologise."
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